A Tale of Two Nobodies (UNDER RECONSTRUCTION)
by JohnnyJinx13
Summary: Another star's light fades, another world is taken by the darkness, and two souls meet on the other side. Meet Nobodies XV and XVI as they go on their adventures with Organization XIII! Does contain OOC-ness! Many thanks to Tora Ryder! Chap 5 Up! *Now under reconstruction, will repost and delete this version*
1. Prologue: A Lil Lost Nobody

_**Another star's light fades, another world is taken by the darkness, and two souls meet on the other side.**_

--- Prologue: A Lil Lost Nobody ---

A lone figure runs through an alleyway in a strange, dark world, wearing tattered jeans and a black t-shirt, "Damn it! What are those things?" He was being chased after by these strange black beings that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Sweat dripped down his short, spiky purple hair, he breathed heavily as he sprinted through the narrow passageway. He glanced over his shoulder to see nothing but trash cans and grime; he slowed down to a stop and caught his breath, trying to think of a way to get out of this place. He then realized a very important piece of info: He had no idea how he got here or who he was…

He slumped against the wall and slid down, his butt hitting the cold, concrete ground, "Geez, what's going on here? What should I do? Where should I go? Where _can_ I go?" He sighed, "Oh man, I'm so lost… I need help, but I won't get anywhere just sitting around here and moping." He rose from the ground, dusting himself off, and exited the alleyway to the sight of a tall skyscraper with many monitors littering the top. He looked all around for some indication of where he might find some help, but everything looked so lonely and depressing that he found it hard to believe that a city this dark and foreboding actually existed.

Realizing that those black monsters could reappear at any time, he took this moment of peace to find a weapon. He scanned his surroundings and picked up a metal pipe that was on the ground, thinking, _"If those creatures come after me again, I'll kick their asses with this thing. That should work, right?"_ He swung the pipe a couple of times in front of him to get a feel for it, nodded in satisfaction, and started walking toward the looming skyscraper. He hummed to himself, but when he realized that he was humming, he laughed, "Wait a minute, how am I humming a song that I don't even know? That's strange… No," he paused, "What's strange is waking up in some God-forsaken world without an identity, **that's** strange. I wish somebody could explain to me what the hell is going on here."

"Then allow me the privilege," an icy-cold voice said, "the privilege of telling you what you **really** are." As the boy rapidly looked around for the source of the voice, a black-hooded man appeared from a dark portal.

The boy caught sight of this Hooded Man, "Hey, who are you? And what do you mean by 'what I really am'?" The Hooded Man simply laughed and slowly took his hood off; revealing long white hair and yellow eyes, the appearance of this guy somewhat disturbed the boy. He gripped the metal pipe tightly, his knuckles turned white, and he stood firmly facing the white-haired man; he began to think, _"Oh man, I didn't think I would actually have to fight so soon, and this guy's different from those monsters from before."_

"Well, to answer your first question: I am Xemnas." the white-haired man said, "And to the second question: You are a Nobody."

This new Nobody had a puzzled look on his face; his eyes cringed with deep thought, "But, what _is_ a 'Nobody'? What's going on here?"

This Xemnas character simply waved his hands to the portal where he came from, "Come with me, and all your questions will be answered, my friend." The Nobody didn't trust this 'Xemnas' guy, but if there was a way he could regain his lost memories, then he had to take it. There was a feeling deep in his gut that told him he had forgotten something important, the feeling stung him like ice in his heart. He stared Xemnas in the eyes for a while, and stepped fearlessly into the dark portal.

Jinx's Corner!

Hey everyone! This is Johnny Jinx with my newest and, probably, best idea ever! As for my other stories, I have no idea when those are going to start up again, but you should still read them! XD

Anyway, this is the prologue, just to get your feet wet for what this story is all about. The truth is, this chapter was supposed to also introduce anoth- Ya'know, you'll meet her in the next chapter!

OH! And, before I forget, thanks to ToraRyeder for being an inspiration for the story! You may be annoying, but you're one of my best (and only) criticizers!


	2. Chapter I: Meeting the Gang

--- Chapter I: Meeting the Gang ---

The Nobody passed through that door of darkness and found himself in a large white-gray room, where there were several other hooded men like this 'Xemnas' guy. One of them glided out from the crowd, "Welcome back, Boss," he said in a warm, somewhat sultry tone; he glanced at the Nobody, "and who is this? Did you decide to become a baby-sitter or something? With all due respect, you're not that good with kids." There was a moment of snickering, Xemnas merely grinned and that was enough to silence the room; the Nobody thought, _"Whoa, this guy __**must**__ be top dog around here. Otherwise, he wouldn't have this much influence over these guys."_

After a minute of dead silence, Xemnas finally spoke, "It's nice to see you, too, Axel. And this," he gave the Nobody a quick smack to the back, nearly knocking him over, "this is our newest member. By the way, speaking of new members, did you get the _other_ one?"

Axel pulled his hood off to reveal a never-ending amount of red hair growing from his head and two black marks under his emerald eyes, grinning widely, "She was a pain in the ass, but we got her. Turns out, she's a Fire-user like me, but she can also slightly control darkness. And her attitude? Can you say 'defensive'? Better yet, I'll spell it for you: D-E-F, E-N, S-I, V-E. Got it memorized?"

A boyish laugh was heard from the group who was still cloaked, "There's Axel's catch phrase again!" One of them raised his hand and waved, "By the way, little guy, I'm Demyx." He removed his hood to reveal short, spiky, blonde hair and a young face.

The Nobody giggled a little, but realized that he hasn't learned anything new about his situation this entire time. He turned to Xemnas and asked, "Xemnas, right? I'm sorry, but what exactly is going on around here? What am I a member of? And why can't I remember anything?" There were so many questions that his head throbbed with pin, "You said that all my questions would be answered, but…" His head dropped in despair, he began staring at the white-tiled floor.

Xemnas hummed to himself, "You have no memories?" The Nobody nodded, "Can you remember your name?" The Nobody closed his eyes, deep in thought, but shook his head in disappointment when nothing came to mind. Xemnas sighed, "Well, you have to have a name… No memories… None at all… None?" He clapped his hands in delight, causing everyone in the room to stare at the Boss with anticipation. He looked down at the Nobody, "You need a name, so you shall have one. Your name, from now on, is… Ennox!"

The Nobody thought about his 'name' and, after a while, he became quite attached to it. Ennox smiled, "Hello, everyone, my name is…" His face struggled with the word, he was kind of getting emotional over the whole thing, "My name is Ennox! Nice to meet'cha!" He watched as the five remaining mystery men removed their hoods; one of them had an X-shaped scar in the middle of his forehead, and he motioned for the others to introduce themselves.

The one with the eye patch went first, "Hey, buddy. I'm Xigbar, but everyone calls me 'Xiggy'. I'm Number II in the Organization." Ennox thought that Xigbar was nice, although he kind of looked like a pirate with all those scars on him.

The only girl in the room shoved Xigbar out of her way, "I'm Larxene, Number XII in the Organization, and I already dislike you, to be honest." Ennox felt as though Death, itself, had just passed right through his body, making his spine shiver and heart feel cold.

The shortest boy patted Ennox on the shoulder, "Don't worry about Larxene; she says that to everyone. I'm Roxas, lucky Number XIII in the Organization, and like you, I don't really have memories of the past, before I was a Nobody." This comment gave Ennox a bit of relief, not just about Larxene, but about how he wasn't alone on the whole 'memory' problem.

A somewhat cold boy about Ennox's age spoke up, "I'm Zexion, my Number is of no importance, and I like to read… May I go now?" Ennox felt the atmosphere change from a somewhat pleasant mood to an anti-social and emo-ish feel.

The one with the scar said, "No, Zexion, you may not. As for me, I am Sai'x, Number VII of the Organization, and my idea of a perfect date is-" Before he could finish his sentence, Axel sprang up from nowhere and smacked Sai'x upside the head, saying something about 'sexual harassment' and 'memorized'. Ennox thought that Sai'x was kind of nice, if not a little robotic, but he, Roxas, and Xigbar had enough good vibes to outweigh Larxene's and Zexion's bad vibes.

"Hey guyyys! Look what I brought in!" A somewhat feminine voice cried out. Everyone turned to the door to see a pink-haired woman and a girl with red and black hair standing there. The pink one had a look of surprise on her face when her gaze turned upon Ennox, "Ohh, we have another guest here, and he looks soo cute, too. Who is he?" The two of them made their way over to the group as Ennox overheard Axel say something about 'The Pink Menace', but everyone else was somewhat interested in the young girl that followed the pink one.

Axel leaned over and slung his arm around Ennox's neck, "Marluxia, you came just in time to welcome our newest member, Ennox! Ennox, this is Number XI, Marluxia; everyone just calls him 'The Pink Menace', haha." Marluxia began to steam from the ears as the entire room began to crack up from the nickname; Ennox even saw Xemnas grin a little, just a little, and the girl who was silent snickered quietly. After everyone had settled down, Axel let go of his 'brother hug' and pointed at the girl, "Hey, it's you! So, you're part of the gang now… Uh," he looked to Marluxia, "What's her name?"

"Her name is Xero." Marluxia said, "Xero, say hello to Ennox." Xero lightly waved at Ennox, slightly grumbling a 'hello', "Good! Oh, you two will be best friends! I'm sure of it."

Ennox waved back and smiled; looking at Marluxia, he said the nicest, yet most humiliating, thing to him, "Ya'know, Marluxia, you're a very nice lady." Suddenly, the room was dead silent and, just as quickly, turned into an uproar of laughter, everyone was laughing, save for Marluxia, Xemnas, and Ennox. He was really confused, "What? What did I say that was so funny? All I said was that Marluxia's a very nice lady." Again, the whole room burst into laughter, all of them held their sides while tears streamed out of their eyes.

Marluxia whimpered, "How can you say that?... That's sooo mean!" Now, Ennox was more confused than ever. Before Ennox had the chance to ask, Axel broke the news to him.

"Listen, Ennox," Axel said, still jittery from the laughing a moment ago, "Marluxia's not a **she**, she's a **he**… G-U-Y, got it memorized?"

Ennox gasped, he was so sure that Marluxia was a girl, but to think that Marluxia is actually a guy somewhat unnerved him. He thought, _"But his voice! And his hair! And that Jonas Brothers' sticker on his jacket! I was so sure!"_ He quickly apologized to Marluxia and he forgave Ennox… For now. After that whole 'gender fiasco', Xemnas told Sai'x to explain to Ennox about being a Nobody and what it meant…

--- That Night ---

As Sai'x guided Ennox down these endless halls of their 'castle', Ennox began to review over what he had learned, "So, I'm the remains of a strong-hearted person who had been turned into a Heartless, which are those things that chased me all over this world. You guys are Nobodies like me - but you still have your memories - and you joined together to create this 'Organization XIII'… Right?" Sai'x simply nodded in affirmation, _"Wow, social much?"_

They stopped suddenly and Sai'x motioned to the wall, "This will be your room here at HQ. I hope you find it… Homely." Ennox looked at the wall… Nothing happened. Ennox thought this was some kind of rookie-room joke or something, but he was proved wrong when Sai'x placed his hand on the wall and it started glowing brightly. When the light faded, there was a simple door in the hallway, and Sai'x explained how to access the room: just put your hand on the wall, simple as that. It was at that time Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar came down the hall, exclaiming 'There he is' and 'Found you'.

Sai'x began to look a little sour in the face, "What's all this? What are you three up to?" Demyx and Xigbar were about to spill the beans, but Axel was there to save the prank day from the evil Mr. Serious, Sai'x.

Axel laughed sheepishly, "Well, Sai'x, we were gonna' have some bonding time with Ennox, seeing as how he's still getting used to being a Nobody." Demyx and Xigbar were going 'oh yeah' and 'uh-huh', but Sai'x seemed less than persuaded.

Sai'x disdainfully folded his arms, "Really? And, per chance, would this 'bonding time' be anything like the fiasco with Roxas?" The three trouble-makers had worried looks on their faces, but Axel quickly thought of a way to get out of the situation. He thrust his hands into his black cloak pockets, digging deep for – there! Axel pulled out one hundred Munny and handed it to Sai'x in a very shady way, but nonetheless, Sai'x checked to see if the coast was clear, grabbed the Munny, and said, "I never saw you…"

Ennox was kind of worried now, _"A bribe!? What on earth on are they gonna' do to me!?"_ His question was answered when Axel snapped his fingers and he felt Xigbar and Demyx lift him up by his shoulders and run away from the scene, "What the hell are you guys doin'!? Is this some sort of sick init-" Demyx covered his mouth and told him to be quiet, or he would 'ruin the surprise'.

The finally stopped in a large corridor and, reluctantly, uncovered Ennox's mouth. Before Ennox could get a word out, Axel smacked him on the back, "Oh, I remember my first time. Boy, what a rush! And, to top it all off, you got three Vets with you as well! You're a lucky boy."

Demyx had an evil look in his eyes, "So, Axel, Xigbar, shall we tell him of… The Ritual?" He grew a Cheshire Cat grin, and Ennox did **not** like where this was going.

Xigbar also had the evil look in his eye, "Yes, I think we shall tell him of… The Ritual. But, we need to know one very important detail…" Ennox was having a panic attack right then, _"Oh man, what are they gonna' do!? Is it some kind of sick, Nobody-torturing mechanism or something? Or maybe they'll make me watch four hours of Celebreality dating shows? Both are a death sentence!" _Xigbar got real close to Ennox, and said in a hush-hush voice, "… How do you feel about 'lingerie'?"

XxX---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XxX

Jinx's Corner

Hey guys, Johnny Jinx is back and with his longest chapter yet! So now things are starting to pick up, and we get our first look of Xero. Although she seems to be a minor character, she'll soon be a big part of the story. Just what are the Trouble Triplets planning for Ennox? X_X

Now, to comment on my reviews of the prologue:

Tora Ryder - Yeah, I know, but you **are** annoying… sometimes… *runs for his life*

Kratos181 - Don't worry, this story is not gonna stop anytime soon, got pleeeeenty of ideas. Also, what's wrong with Mountain Dew and crack-infused acorns? XD

NinjaSheik - THANKS! I WILL!

Oh, btw readers, I might start a Reader's Choice thing. To keep things interesting, if and when you review, give an idea for a chapter. I'll choose the one that I think would be the best or funniest, then I'll write a short chapter about it. Again, this is a maybe, but I will credit you for it. All right! Thanks guys, you're all great!


	3. Chapter II: Bonding Time

--- Bonding Time ---

Ennox stood in the large, white corridor in a state of confusion, "L-lingerie? I... I don't understand, what do you want me to do?" Xigbar pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand, his eyes shut tightly, and he was clearly in frustration.

Demyx took a step toward Ennox and gave the 'O.K' signal, "It's simple: All we want you to do is snag a pair of Larxene's lovelies and bring them to us! Haha." Xigbar and Axel nodded their heads in agreement… Simple.

Ennox remembered Larxene, and how she disliked him before he spoke a single word and how he heard from nearly everyone in the castle that she was the HBIC of all the Nobodies. Ennox suddenly grew pale in the face, "Are you crazy? Larxene'll kill me if I even come near her, so I don't think breaking into her room is such a good idea!" His arms flailed in frenzy and Axel, grabbing them firmly, placed them back down at his sides.

Axel sighed and looked Ennox in the eyes, "Listen, Ennox, all three of us had to do it, and – as tradition dictates – you must do it as well. It's easy, okay? Now, take this map and go already!" He shoved a piece of paper into Ennox's hands, turned him around, and shoved him away, "You'll be okay. If anything goes wrong, we'll be there to help you out, ok?" Ennox nodded and left the corridor in a sprint, hoping to get it over with as soon as possible.

After Ennox left, Xigbar came up to Axel and tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey, you gave him the right map, right?"

Axel turned his head and gave him a sly smile, "Depends: Did you want him to go to Larxene's room or the _other _room?"

Xigbar turned to look at Demyx, who gave him a nod, and they both said in unison, "The other room, of course!"

Axel chuckled, "Then I gave him the right map, and now, to wait for the chaos to ensue! Who wants popcorn?" Demyx and Xigbar raised their hands in joy.

--- An Hour Later ---

Ennox was out of breath and decided to stop for a while in the lobby… Wait, there was a **lobby**!? Ennox went over to a table where a blonde man with a very anti-social aura sat drinking what seemed to be coffee, "E-excuse me, could you possibly he-" The man shook his hand in Ennox's face, he apparently didn't want to socialize, or maybe he was just angry and didn't want to talk to anyone.

But the man lifted his head up to Ennox and spoke, "I am Vexen, and I am very busy, so would you please not talk to me." He returned his view to the table where he sat and closed his eyes.

Ennox took a step back from the table and he thought, _"Wow, okay, he's probably under a lot of pressure or something… Oh yeah! Maybe he knows where Larxene's room is?"_ He tried to say something, but Vexen's deep concentration sent off this very cold vibe that made it impossible to speak. Ennox decided to just move along and leave this strange and despairing person alone, he left the 'lobby' for a hallway that lead downstairs. As he rounded the corner, he bumped into someone and crashed on top of them; he slowly rose to see that it was the girl from before, Xero, who then threw Ennox to the side like a ragdoll.

Xero got to her feet, wearing her Organization coat, and looked at Ennox, "Geez, watch where you're going! Wait, you're Ennox… What are you doing in the girls' area?" She gave Ennox a suspicious look; she thought that he was up to something devious, but she also thought that there was something familiar about him, _"Where have I seen him before?.. Dwe, it doesn't matter; this guy is creeping around in the Lion's Den."_

Ennox was in deep, Xero has caught him pink-handed, but maybe he could inch his way out of it, "Well, you see, I have to talk to Larxene, but I have no idea where her room is. But…" he pulled out the map Axel gave him, "I _conveniently_ have this map, but the directions are kinda vague. Could you help me out?" He handed Xero the map, which she took and folded it out in front of her. She carefully looked it over, looked at Ennox, and back at the map; she folded the map back up and threw it back at Ennox.

Xero sighed, "I don't know why you have a map to her room, and I'm not gonna ask why, but what I am gonna tell you is that whatever you plan on doing, do it quick. Head to the end of this hallway, go left, it's the second door-wall-thing on the right, when you see the "Enter and Die" sign, the entrance is on the right side." And with that, Xero left Ennox in the hall with a look of gratitude on his face, but she knew better, _"I wonder if that moron knows that it's not a map to Larxene's room… Probably not, but I have no reason to help or hurt him. Though, I'm curious as to why he wants to know…"_

Ennox left Xero's company with a smile and he yelled to her, "Thanks a lot Xero! I'll see you later!" He got to the end of the hallway and turned left; unaware that he was heading the wrong way, he went down the hallway until he came upon the sign that Xero talked about. He placed his hand on the wall and a door suddenly appeared, but he hesitated to go inside, _"Oh man… I need to do this quick, otherwise, Larxene is gonna'…"_ his mind wandered for a moment, _"Oh man, can't back down now! Ok, I can do this. I can do this. I can do this."_

He pushed through the door to enter a pure white room, but it didn't seem to be as he imagined it to be; the room was clean, organized, and there were numerous sketches taped onto the walls. He walked to the bed, which was also pure white, and saw the pure white dresser in the corner; he thought that Larxene **really** liked white for some odd reason. If he only knew where he really was, then he'd be getting his ass out of that room real quick… Oh, too late.

"Hey, who the hell are you?" Ennox spun around quickly to see a blonde girl with big, blue eyes staring him down, "I've never seen you around here, so you better explain yourself or –" she picked up a chair – "I'll beat you up!"

Ennox waved his hands in don't-hit-me-I'm-innocent-sort-of manner, "Wait! Wait! My name is Ennox, and I thought this was Larxene's room, so please don't kill me!"

The blond girl set the chair down, "Ohh, so you're Ennox. I overheard Axel and the others talking about you. So, you're Number XVI? Hm, well, I'm Naminé and I'm a special member of the Organization. But, that still doesn't explain why you're in my room, or why you're trying to get into Larxene's room for that matter."

--- A Long Explanation Later ---

The blonde girl, sitting on her bed, held her head in pain, "Ok, I see: Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar set you up on this crazy quest to grab Larxene's panties so they can do something with them, right?" Ennox nodded his head, "Ok… But, why did they send you to my room? Could it be…?" She blushed, and she smacked her hands into her bed, causing Ennox to jump, and she launched from her bed, "Those idiots! Are they trying to get me to sleep with this guy!?" She pointed at Ennox and held her other hand to her face; her eyes were wide with surprise.

"Uh," Ennox muttered, "no, I don't think that they want me and you to… Yeah, no, I don't think it's that." Naminé pulled her pointing hand back and clasped both hands over her mouth in a seemingly embarrassed manner. She fiddled with her white dress and sat back down on the bed, and Ennox slouched over as he sat down on the floor, "Look, it's not that I don't think you're cu- Ah, never mind, just point me to Larxene's room so I can get this thing over with, please?"

Naminé said, "Sure, but… What were you going to say about me?"

Ennox's back stiffened, "O-oh, nothing, just… Ya'know… Yeah." He laughed sheepishly, but Naminé knew better; she looked at him with those big blue eyes and trapped him, "Well, I was gonna' say that you're kinda'… C-cute."

Naminé was taken aback, "You really think so?" She blushed, "You are the nicest person here, besides Roxas… Ah, Roxas…" Her blush turned an even darker shade of red, nearly scarlet.

Ennox hummed to himself; he didn't know for sure, but he had a feeling that Roxas and Naminé were a little closer than friends. He thought the best way was to be direct about it, "So… You really got the hots for Roxas, huh?" He laughed, but Naminé kind of squeaked.

"A-ah, d-don't be ridiculous!" Naminé squeaked out, "I mean I like him as a friend and as a co-worker, but nothing more than that! Honestly!" Her face, by some work of God, had become redder than before; her face had turned into a red hot Chile pepper!

Ennox realized that he made her uncomfortable, "Hey," Naminé looked at him giving her a thumbs-up and a smile, "don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Naminé's face turned back to normal and she nodded, "Ok, now, can you point me to Larxene's room… And, if you could, maybe you can distract her for a while so I have enough time to escape?"

Naminé jumped off her bed and returned a big thumbs-up to Ennox, "Can do! Her room is at the other end of this hall and on the right. I'll also get some help from the others, so you take your sweet time!"

They slowly exited Naminé's room, making sure nobody saw them together in fear of misunderstandings and rumors being told. Naminé motioned for Ennox to go down the hall on the left and open the door on the right, Ennox nodded and left to grab the booty, and Naminé went the opposite way to get some help and delay Larxene…

--- Following Ennox… ---

Ennox sprinted down the hall to the end and turned right, quickly placed his hand on the wall, and slid inside the room and shut the door behind him. Now, this room was a bit more like the Larxene that he had come to know and fear; the room was dimly lit and the walls were plastered with posters of death-metal bands and models. He thought that this room was a lot different compared to Naminé's room, but then again, they were two completely different people. One was the innocent girl-next-door and the other was an HBIC with electric powers, so of course their rooms would be totally different. It still did not change the fact that he was in way deep; he needed to grab the panties and get the hell out of there.

He hopped over to the dresser, where he began to rummage through all the cabinets, when he came across a black book no bigger than his palm. He was about to toss it aside, but something told him to look inside, _"What am I thinking? I'm already here, trying to take her __**panties**__, and now I'm gonna' peak in her book?.. I'm goin' to Hell."_ He flipped the black book open to the most recently written page, "Oh, so it's her diary… Let's see…" He began to read when something unexpected caught his eyes, "N-no way!.. She actually… So, that's how it is…"

--- Following Naminé… ---

Naminé went upstairs to get some help, she thought, _"Should I ask Axel and them? No, if they knew that I knew, they probably wouldn't trust Ennox anymore… Then who should I ask?" _Just then, she ran past Marluxia and found the perfect person, "Hey, Marluxia, wait up!"

Marluxia spun around, "Oh, Naminé, what do you need?" Naminé had thought of the perfect excuse for Marluxia to confront Larxene, she just hoped that he would take the bait.

Naminé said, "I just wanted to ask you something… Do you dye your hair?" Marluxia gasped in surprise, he had never been accused of such a thing.

Marluxia said pridefully, "How dare you? I'm a pure, natural pink-head. Why would you assume I'd go as low as to dye my perfect hair?"

Naminé smiled in her mind; hook, line, sucker, "Oh, it wasn't me. Larxene said you dye your hair because you want the attention. I think she's in the Library, you can still talk to her about things if you want." Marluxia's face turned red with rage and hate; Naminé had done her job well. She had to run as quickly as possible to get to Larxene and send her to the Library. But how was she going to do that when Larxene hates Zexion and –for that matter – books? She had an idea and she took the elevator up to the top floors…

--- Back to Ennox… ---

He threw the book back into the dresser in utter disbelief, "How can one woman have _this much_ dirty laundry? Still," he laughed to himself, "having this much dirt can help me out later on. Now, onto what I originally came here for: the panties." He went back into the drawer and suddenly felt something silky smooth and grabbed it. When he pulled it out, he saw that he had a black pair of lacy lingerie; his face turned beet red, _"D-does Larxene actually __**wear**__ this under her coat? W-wow…"_ He then remembered that this was the woman who threatened him without provocation of any kind and he stuffed the lingerie into his right pocket. He put everything back to their original positions and left the room discreetly.

Now, he had another obstacle to face: he had to find Axel and them before Larxene discovers that her 'lovelies' are gone! He raced down the halls, casually looking over his shoulder for a pissed-off blonde who would beat him within an inch of his life then kill him.

--- Back to Naminé ---

As Naminé got off the elevator, she was greeted with the one face she did not want to see: Larxene. She suddenly froze up and the blonde just stared at her, "What are you lookin' at?" She paused for an answer, but nothing came out of Naminé's mouth, "Stop gawking and either get out or press a button!" With that, Naminé leapt out of the elevator and started speed-walking down the halls and caught Larxene mumbling to herself about a 'dumb girl'. Naminé would make sure to make Larxene pay for that, and she knew exactly how to do it.

She turned the corner and, once out of Larxene's view, dashed down the halls, dodging random objects that were strewn across the floor and Naminé complained, "Damn it, Demyx! You forgot to pick up your toys, again!"

A couple of hallways later, she reached Sai'x's office and she ran into the door while opening it, which caused Sai'x to jump out of his seat. As Naminé closed the door, Sai'x took to his feet and asked, "Um, what the hell is going on? Why are you so out of breath? Did Axel try to…" He trailed off.

Naminé waved her hands as she rested, "N-no, not this time… I was wondering if you could do me a favor. Could you call Larxene to the library for me? Like, right now? Please?"

Sai'x sat back down and sighed, "You know I can't do that. That would be an abuse of my position as the PA guy." Naminé dug her fingers into her pockets and pulled out about fifty munny. Sai'x moved around her and stuck his head out the door, looking both directions, and pulled his head back in, "It was a misread announcement…" He snagged the munny from Naminé's hand and grabbed the microphone, "Attention, attention: Larxene, you are needed in the Library. I repeat, Larxene, you are needed in the Library."

For some reason, they both thought they heard a shrill female voice scream, "GODDAMNIT!"

Naminé hoped that it was because of the diversion, and not because of Ennox…

--- Back to Ennox ---

"Axel! Demyx! Xigbar! Where are you guys!" Ennox screamed as he ran down the halls, still looking over his shoulder in fear. He decided to run into random rooms in the hopes of running into someone he can talk to, and after thirty or so rooms, he finally found one with someone in it.

The walls were crammed with books, there were a couple of desks and a table lying about and there was an odor of age floating about. As he slowly walked through this monstrous database, Ennox noticed a certain blue-haired emo kid sitting at the main table flipping through a book. He decided to tiptoe up to Zexion and tap him on the shoulder, but as his finger was about to make contact, Ennox heard a cold voice say, "Don't. Touch. Me. Or. I. Will. Kill. You."

Ennox pulled his hand back and nervously put it at his side, "Ok, so, can you tell me where I might find Axel?" Zexion shut his book loudly and rose from his seat, pushing his chair back in, to go to the bookcase to put his book back. Then, he grabbed another book and sat back down in the same seat, opened it, and stayed silent. Ennox sighed, "Are you going to help me out?"

Zexion returned the sigh, "Fine, answer three questions and I will tell you where Axel and his buddies hang out, ok?" Ennox nodded, "Let's begin. Why do you need to find Axel? And be honest, for I have read fifteen books on how to tell someone is lying." He gave Ennox a piercing look.

Ennox continued the sighing frenzy, "Ok: Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar told me –as part of my initiation – that I had to steal Larxene's panties and bring it to them. Well, I knew Larxene would notice soon enough, so I went looking for Axel, but I can't find him anywhere. I started looking randomly and found myself here. And now, I playing the Question Game with you." Ennox took a deep breath.

Zexion nodded, chuckling to himself as he did so, and said, "Ok, question two: What kind of panties are they?" Ennox pulled the panties out of his right pocket and held them out to Zexion, who eyed them suspiciously, "Oh, yeah, those are Larxene's, all right. Nice work."

Ennox got curious, "Zexion, how do you know these are Larxene's?"

Zexion stared at Ennox silently for a minute, then said, "I'm the one asking questions around here. Now, for question number three, the question nobody can answer:…" There was a dramatic pause, "If a tree falls in the middle of a forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Ennox gasped, "You jerk! That's one of those questions where Yes and No are both wrong! You can't ask that!"

Zexion, "Ah-ah-ahhh, I'm the master here, so answer it or no GPAxel for you." He chuckled, and Ennox fumed.

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes passed before anyone said anything. Suddenly, Ennox got an idea, "Man, this is so hard. I can't answer this question…"

Zexion smiled, "So, do you give up, then?"

Ennox drew a big grin across his face, _"Sucker!"_ He calmly said, "No, I won't give up… Because I just won! HAHA!"

Zexion's smile was replaced with a dumb-founded look, "What are you talking about? You haven't answered my question."

Ennox wagged his finger in front of Zexion, "Ah-ah-ahhh, that's where you're wrong, my academic friend. You said I had to answer three questions, and I did. Remember when you asked me if I was going to give up? _That_ was question number three!" Zexion gasped this time, for he has been outwitted for the first time in his life. Ennox muttered to himself, "I love this bonding time! And now, to get these lacy black lovelies to the gang!"

Just then, a blonde psycho walked through the door and became Hell itself. Its target: Ennox…


	4. Chap 3: The Pink, the Blonde, & The Emo

--- The Pink, the Blonde, & the Emo ---

As Ennox stood in the library, chanting his name in celebration of beating Zexion at his own game, he noticed a large killing intent had just entered the room. He turned to his left to see Larxene, her eyes fixated on the object in Ennox's hands: her lacy black underwear. Ennox stuffed the underwear into his left pocket and tried to play it off as if it never happened, but that plan was pure fail. Larxene's face changed into a look of absolute hatred and anger with electricity pulsing all around her body, and she said in a death tone, "You… I'm gonna'…" She summons her throwing daggers to her hands, causing Ennox to panic and run in the opposite direction, "I'm gonna' kill you!"

At that moment, Marluxia busted through the doors opposite Larxene and yelled, "You bitch! I'm pink!" He materialized his scythe and flourished it in his usual manner.

Zexion finally revived from his funk and yelled, "Stop screaming and yelling in my domain!" He pulled out his lexicon and flipped through its pages. Ennox, however, was weaponless and powerless and could only run and hope to God that he didn't die.

As Marluxia stepped slowly toward the center with Zexion, and Larxene did likewise, the tension in the room grew to where you could suffocate from it. Marluxia pointed his finger at Larxene and said, "How dare you accuse me of dying my hair! You're just jealous of my rosy locks!"

Larxene gave Marluxia a funny look, "What the hell are you talkin' about? I do **not** envy that pink monstrosity, but I do think you could spare some of that gigantic ego you got."

Marluxia's face turned red with anger, "Well, at least I'm not some bi-polar emo wannabe!"

Larxene gasped, but Zexion lashed out first, "How can you say that she's an emo wannabe? She's definitely bi-polar, but she's not cuttin' her wrists anytime soon." Larxene simply back-handed Zexion and he fell to the floor with a tiny yelp.

Larxene turned her attention to Marluxia and said, "Well, at least I'm not confused about my sexuality and have a shrine to the Jonas Brothers in my closet!"

Marluxia fumed, "You **swore** you'd never speak of it again, you whore!" Ennox, at this point, thought that Marluxia had problems.

"Pillow-biter."

"Psycho-bitch."

"Mr. Rogers."

"Yellow!"

"Pink!"

Zexion jumped up from the ground and yelled, "Both of you, shut the hell up!" He powered up and threw his book at the fighters. The book opened up suddenly as Marluxia and Larxene disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the book flew back to Zexion.

Ennox came back from hiding and said, "Oh my God! What did you do to them!?"

Zexion fanned his hand in front of Ennox, "Please calm down, I simply imprisoned them inside my Lexicon and they'll be free in a little while. Meanwhile, I'm getting you to Axel."

Ennox smiled, "Oh yeah, you have to help me because I beat you, right?"

Zexion sighed, "Well, there's that, but also because, when Larxene comes back from the book, I'm gonna' tell her you left. That way, she'll leave, Marluxia will follow her, and I'll have peace of mind to read!"

Ennox mumbled, "Thanks a lot…"

Zexion sighed, "Let's see, it is three o'clock in the morning on a Saturday in the month of October… Axel – and the rest of them – should be in his room, where they always are. Easily discerned by the sign that says 'Axel's Room: Stay the $%^& Out!' and it is down the hall from the PA room on the top floor… Now, get the hell out of here."

Ennox ran out the doors nearby and yelled, "Thanks a lot, Zexion!" As Ennox ran down the halls, he spotted a familiar face: Xero! As he slid to a halt, he said, "Hey, Xero, what's going on?"

Xero looked at Ennox through her hair which, for some reason, was wet, "Nothin' much… Just got back from the Lobby where Demyx was tossing water balloons for no apparent reason. What about you? How goes the 'mission'?"

Ennox chuckled, trying to keep it down as to not annoy Xero, as he said, "I-it was a success, but now I need to find Axel. Zexion said that he should be in his room, so –"

"No good." Xero interrupted, "He ain't up there; I was just up there to ask about how my powers work, but he wasn't in there. Speaking of which," she pointed at him, "what are _your_ powers?"

Ennox sighed, "No idea, but I hope it's something like rubber or stone…"

"Why is that?"

"Long story. Anyway," Ennox put his index finger up to his lips, "I need to find Axel so I can finish this ridiculous test!"

Just then, a voice broke out over the PA system, "Attention, attention: Ennox, you and your – do I really have to… Fine - panties are needed in the west wing of the castle. I repeat, Ennox, you and your panties are needed in the west wing of the castle. That is all."

After the PA went off, an explosion came from the Library, _"Oh no,"_ Ennox thought, _"This __**cannot**__ be good!"_ As he thought that, Zexion flies out of the Library doors and yells, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! SHE'S ON THE WARPATH!!!" A couple of yards behind him, the yellow-haired demon, Larxene, with her multiple daggers, was running down the hall with Death in her eyes!

As Larxene ran down the halls, her Death-eyes caught Ennox with Xero and she screamed, "I'm gonna' kill you for sure this time!" She moved her arms into her dagger-throwing position and Ennox, thinking quickly, grabbed Xero's arm and started running away from Ms. Psycho-bitch.

Xero breaks Ennox's grip on her arm and runs next to him, "I'm guessing _this_ is the reason you wanna' be a Rubber-man?"

"Yeah, you could say that's the reason."

"Ok, but what's the reason for her chasing you?" Ennox slightly pulled out the lingerie, enough for Xero to see it, "Wow, never would've pegged you for the 'sexy-underwear' guy, but I still don't understand the connec-"

"No! These aren't mine, they're Larxene's!"

"Oh, so _that's_ why you were looking for Larxene."

"Yeah, but now I gotta' escape from her and get these to Axel and them! But, the directions that they're giving are just plain vague! Honestly! If I die because of this, I'm gonna' come back and kick their a-"

Before Ennox could finish his obscene sentence, an immense explosion sent him flying through a wall, and into what seemed to be a garden with a grotto, a kind of paradise. He pulled himself up onto his knees and noticed that Xero had disappeared; he thought to look for her, but he realized that she was a lot tougher than he was and that Larxene would only target her too if they were together, _"Then, what the hell should I do?"_

xXx Meanwhile… xXx

Roxas was walking across a bridge with a large box full of Struggle swords in his arms and humming to himself. When the bridge suddenly shook from some massive explosion down below, Roxas dropped one of the swords; it rolled off the side and fell. He grunted, "Dammit! That one was worth a hundred-fifty munny! What was with that explosion anyway?" He stood for a moment in deep thought, shrugged, and went on his semi-merry way, saying, "Whatever, whatever…"

xXx Back to Ennox xXx

Ennox picked himself up off the ground and quickly scanned the area for a hiding spot, but the only one in reach was the pool itself. He was about to jump in but logic caught up to him, "Wait," he said quietly to himself, "if I go into water and Larxene sees me, she could use her lightning to –" the images caused Ennox to sweat, "- bad idea, baaad idea. But if I can't hide, should I fight? Pfft, like I could! Besides, I would need some kind of weapon to even sta-"

At that moment, a blue object came to the fringe of Ennox's peripheral vision. When the object hit the ground, Ennox slightly hopped and turned to see some kind of blue-stick-thingy. He grabbed what he thought was the handle and examined it, "Well, it looks like a sword… sort of, anyway. But the padding doesn't really help me, does it?"

Ennox heard a shifting of rubble and turned to see a blonde figure pop out, much to his dismay. As Larxene gathered her air supply, she saw Ennox holding the Struggle sword in his hands, "So… I see you're ready to receive punishment! Too bad; that stupid stick won't help you!" She rushed Ennox, punching him in the stomach and then tossing him aside; Ennox couldn't put up a fight at all!

xXx On the Sidelines… xXx

As Ennox was getting his ass kicked, Axel and Xero looked on; Xero was about to go over there and help, but Axel stopped her.

"He might – no, he _will_ die if we don't do something. You know that, Axel."

"If he loses to Larxene, then we don't need him. Besides, it's an order from the Superior, my hands are tied."

"If he at least knew what powers he had – if any – he would stand a small chance."

Axel chuckled, "Maybe, maybe not. Maybe he'll kick the bucket… or maybe he'll get lucky."

"Do you really think that?"

"He got Larxene's panties, didn't he?"

It took a while for the reference to sink in, but Xero finally responded, "… Men…"

xXx Back to the Battle xXx

Ennox was taking a beating like never before – since, you know, he can't _remember_ the last time he got into a fight – when he began to think, _"Damn… Am I really going to die here?... I can't die here, not now at least! I… I… I want to remember everything!"_

Images of all kinds began to fly throughout Ennox's mind; Springtime… a blonde girl… an old tree… a promise! But, where were these things coming from? Ennox's mind was suddenly pulled from his body and into some strange locale, but it was one he recognized.

"This," he said to himself, "is Iveron. Is this my home? No, not home, but somewhere important. But why?" At that moment, two masses brushed up against him and ran off; when he turned to see what it was, he saw two kids running towards a far-off hill with a tree on top. One of the figures was a little girl, maybe seven or eight years old with long blonde hair, and the other figure – who was chasing the girl – was a boy who seemed to be older than her and had long brown hair. For some odd reason, this whole scene seemed familiar to Ennox; he thought, _"I know I've seen this happen before, but where-"_ the images from before finally made sense, _"- am I… am I in one of my memories?"_

He decided to follow the children to the old tree and watched silently as the kids played with each other and laughed.

"Hey," the blonde girl said, "how about we make a wish under Ol' Ironbark?" The brown-haired boy just looked at her in confusion. The blonde explained, "There's a story about this tree; if two people make a wish together under this tree, it will come true! Hmm… How about this: Whenever I'm in need of a hero, you come and save me?"

The boy groaned, "What do I get out of that?" When Ennox heard the boy speak, he instantly recognized who that boy was: it was him!

The blonde chuckled, "Don't you know how it goes? When the brave knight saves the damsel in distress, the two… get married!"

The boy looked off into the distance, "Marriage? Nah… I'm too young for that!" The girl scoffed and began to pout; the boy realized this and said, "But… I'll become strong, so I can protect you!"

"Really?"

"Really."

"Truly really?"

"Truly really."

"Honestly truly re-"

"Do you want to make the wish or not!?" The girl nodded and they locked pinkies, closed their eyes, and wished upon Ol' Ironbark.

Ennox's eyes began to swell with tears and, as he wiped them away, he whispered to himself, "Why am I crying?... And why…" he gripped his chest over where his heart would be if he had one, "Why do I have these feelings of guilt and sorrow?" As he felt his mind return to his body, he had a realization, "She was… She was my first true friend, right?.. And I promised her that I would become strong, so I could protect her!... So…"

Once he returned to his body, Ennox was about to be struck by one of Larxene's amazingly smooth fists. Ennox threw his hand up and caught the punch; Larxene was stunned for a moment but countered with her other fist. Ennox simply counter-countered with his other hand – dropping the Struggle sword to his side – and the two were forced into a deadlock. Larxene was surprised, "Where are you getting all this power from!? Just what the hell ar-" She heard Ennox mutter something under his breath, "What'd you say?"

"I said, 'Since I promised that I would protect her…'" Ennox lifted his head, meeting Larxene's eyes with his own, brimming eyes of determination, "'I can't die here! Not yet!'" He pushed Larxene back a few feet and grabbed his Struggle sword in his left hand; gripping it tightly, he said, "This one memory…" he lifted the sword, pointing it at Larxene, "Will be my power, my weapon, and… my reason for existing!"

A bright light blinded all who looked upon it and pieces of debris were blown away by its magnitude. As the light faded away, Larxene – and Axel and Xero, too – saw something they didn't expect, and neither did Ennox.

Ennox checked himself and saw that his entire outfit had changed; his black Organization coat was gone, and in its place was something you'd only see at a cosplay convention. He had on a red light leather vest that had fur on the neck line, on overtop that vest was a brown leather harness that came over his right shoulder and across both sides. His pants were replaced by a pair of common kendo/samurai leggings in pure black, and on his feet were geta – a pair of wooden sandals that have bottoms **(A/N: Thing Jiraiya from Naruto ^_^) (Tora: … Dork… .)**. On his left arm was metal armor going from his fingertips up to the mid-upper arm, and above that was a spiked shoulder guard; on his right arm were bandages and a buckler with a dragon symbol on the front. His hair changed from purple to brown and grew long into a ponytail, and his bangs were held up by a headband with a flame design on it. In his left hand – where the Struggle sword _used_ to be – was a longsword that had the engraving of an angel praying on the cross-guard.

Larxene summoned her daggers, "**Dagger Storm**!!!" She launched her daggers, overloaded with electricity, at Ennox, who simply stood there for a moment but then raised his sword above his head, "Give it up! There's no way you can block all of them!"

Ennox focused his power into the blade, giving it a red glow, "**HISSATSU!**.." He swung the sword down and the stored energy released into a giant, vertical, red wave, "**KENAGE NO HASAKI**!!!"(A/N: Literally translates to "Sword of the Brave" :D)

The attacks collided and exploded, sending a ton of debris flying all around. When the dust settled, Larxene was knocked out cold and Ennox stood for a brief moment before collapsing onto the ground.

xXx Back on the Sidelines xXx

Axel chuckles, "Told'ya he'd get lucky. And look at that! He even discovered his power!" Axel pulled out his phone and dialed in a number, "Vexen, did you get all that?... Uh-huh… Okay… Understood. All right, cya later, Vexen."

As Axel hung up his phone, Xero asked him, "So, this whole 'panty-raid' thing was all just a front for testing his abilities?" Axel nodded in affirmation, "Oh, so, why didn't you do that with me?"

"Your abilities were already awakened, so there was no need for a test." Axel explained, "Ennox's power, however, was buried deep within, so we put him into a do-or-die scenario to draw it out and, well, you know the rest."

When the two went down to pick up Ennox and Larxene, they noticed that Ennox had changed back, however, his Organization coat was still gone; so he only had on his boxers with Chocobos on them. Xero walked away from his body, "You can have Ennox. I'll take Larxene…"

Axel stood still for a moment while examining Ennox, "Something… seems off."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, we can activate our powers at will and keep them on as long as we feel like it… So, why did Ennox change back so suddenly?"

"Maybe it has a time limit on it?"

"Maybe, maybe not… We'll find out from Vexen after he analyzes the data from – Oh, damn!"

"Oh, what now!?"

"I was told to interfere if it began to get out of hand; Ennox's attack was more powerful than it seemed." He pointed to where Ennox fired his Kenage no Hasaki, "Look."

Xero looked at where Ennox's sword made impact on the ground; the energy cut deep down, about ten or fifteen feet below the impact zone. The path made by the attack had made a miniature fault line straight through the wall and even further. The damage was extensive, but it was mostly contained in the area of battle. Xero thought to herself, _"Where did all this power come from?"_

xXx Meanwhile, in Vexen's Lab xXx

Vexen sat in his chair, staring intently at the computer screen. He bit his thumb dumb-foundedly, for once in his life he couldn't figure it out, "Where? How? Why? What?" The data Axel sent made no sense whatsoever and no matter what theory, process or trick he used, the data never clicked together. He unclenched his teeth and he put his hands together, "How intriguing… This child, whose strength is an ant compared to ours, can harness such power… But the reason – the 'trigger' – is still unknown." He closed his eyes, "Ennox… Number XVI… What are you?"

Jinx's Corner!

Ok, sorry this chapter took so long; it was actually finished a couple of weeks ago, but I wrote it down on paper and then I lost my notebook… Then it turns out that it was in my backpack the entire time… And then Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years came… Long story short, a lot of %^#$ happened. Anyway, the battle scene between Ennox and Larxene was meant to be longer, but I'm not really good at detailed battles, so I'm gonna' try and work on that.


	5. Chapter IV Preview!

--- Preview of the Next Chapter ---

"Damn, not even a scratch!" Ennox huffed, "My sword just isn't strong enough… What do I do now?"

????? laughs, "Ehahahahaha! Just give up; there's no way in hell you can break my armor." He raised his claws in a show of superiority, "Any last words, Nobody?"

Ennox thought for a moment, _"Is there anything I can do?... Well, there's __**that**__, although I don't know if it'll work or not… Well, it's now or never!" _Ennox held his sword out in front; as he cleared his mind – _Just have to find that energy_ –, a sudden wave of warmth covered his body and flew outward. He could sense ?????'s energy and felt it practically disappear before his own power; he could sense ?????'s fear and anxiety.

"W-what?" ????? said out loud, "W-where are you getting all this energy from? Just what are you doing!?"

Ennox smiled, "Oh, nothing…" He manipulated his energy to condense around him, "Just this, my trump card!"

**(A/N: That's right, Ennox has something up his sleeve to take care of the baddie. And the reason why the baddie is unknown is (1) I don't have a name for him yet and (2) I don't wanna' ruin it for you! XD So, this is a random piece of the next chapter. To be honest, I don't even have up to this point in the chapter; to be completely honest, this is the first and only part of the new chapter I have written. I just wrote this to give you guys a small sliver of what's to come! Tell me what you think. However, when the chapter comes out, this part might be a bit different, just a heads up! Anyway, R+R please!**

**~~ Johnny Jinx XIII ~~**


	6. Chapter IV: NEw School, New Enemies

--- Chapter IV: New School, New Enemies ---

"Say what?" Xero fumed, her hair as blazing as her rage.

"You heard me just fine," Xemnas said calmly, "you, and a select group of members, are enlisted to Twilight Town High School."

Ennox asked, "Why is that?"

Xemnas simply fell back in his chair, leaning it backwards, "Because it's local and has a great educational curriculum."

Ennox sighed, "That's not the point."

Xemnas sighed in return, "Well, the damages from last week's little 'scuffle' has brought our operation to a near-standstill. So, we're enrolling you in school so you'll have an education and get a good job that pays well and then we can continue with our plan… and the renovations."

Weeks after the fight with Larxene, a couple of Organization members were selected to come to Meeting Room #1; they had no idea that they would be going to school – _normal_ school – or anything school- or education-related. The group - consisting of Ennox, Xero, Roxas, Naminé, Axel, Larxene, and Zexion - was being condemned to a 'teen doom'.

Larxene scoffed, "You gotta' be kidding me, Xemnas. What about Demyx!? He's probably younger than I am!"

"That might be true," Demyx walked into the meeting room, "but, you see, I would cause a panic if I entered the school."

"Why?" Larxene shook her head, "Would your _'devilish looks'_ drive the teen girls crazy and make them chase you all around school like some vampire-obsessed fan-girl?"

"Close!" Demyx chuckled, "They would chase me around, since I _am_ a star!"

"What?"

Ennox looked at him strange, "You know, now that you mention it, you do resemble someone famous… But where-"

"Aha!" Demyx exclaimed, "I knew someone would catch on! You're right, Ennox, I am the famous D-Mix Master!"

Ennox clapped, "That's right, you were in La-" His eyes went to Larxene, who was giving him a not-so-subtle shut-the-%$^&-up-or-I'll-kill-you look, "-La-la, fa la la la la, la la la laaa…" Everyone gave him a strange look, "Oh, sorry, I thought I saw you in a, uh, Christmas Special on the TV…"

Xemnas broke the awkward silence, "Anyway, you will all be going to a school to get an education," he paused, "hopefully…"

Axel asked, "So, when do we start school?"

"Soon."

"How soon?" Roxas asked.

"Immediately."

"Immediately?" Naminé piped.

"Yes, immediately."

Ennox looked around the room, dumbfounded, "You mean… Like, right now?"

Xemnas rubbed his temples, "What part of **'immediately'** do you people **not** get!? No, I mean the 'right now' of tomorrow. **Yes**, right now! Get your crap and get to the Portal Room at 1200 hours." Axel was about to comment, but before he could utter a syllable, Xemnas countered, "And no, Axel, 1200 hours does not mean 72,000 minutes; it means we meet there at noon… Any other stupid questions?"

Zexion, who had not been paying any attention – **at all** – closed his book and said, "Wait, what's going on? I was distracted by this marvelous book by Diane Saw-"

Xemnas leapt from his chair and yelled, "GET OUT OF HERE!" The group quickly vacated the room, leaving Xemnas with Sai'x, "I hate children…"

Sai'x stood patiently by Xemnas's side, "I know, sir."

"Can you go get me an Advil?"

"I could, but Tylenol works better, sir."

"Did I **ask** for a Tylenol? No? Then get me an Advil."

Sai'x sighed, "Yes, sir. What would you like to drink with it?"

"One percent milk… And, uh, could you also grab me an orange?"

"The milk is doable, but we're fresh out of oranges. May I get you an apple?"

"I… Want… An orange…"

"I know, sir, but Marluxia said he needed them for… _something_."

And so the pointless – yet humorous – banter between Xemnas and Sai'x continued for another fifteen or so minutes….

xXx Meanwhile, in Ennox's Room… xXx

"Hmm…" Ennox hummed to himself, "What should I bring...?"

"Worry not," a sudden voice rang; Ennox turned to see Vexen in his doorway, holding a backpack, "I packed your bag already."

"Um, thanks I guess…" Ennox muttered. He never really talked to Vexen, except for that one time where Vexen was really rude to him; but this sudden act of kindness caused Ennox confusion, _"Maybe he's just a cold person on the outside, but deep down he wants to be my friend…?"_

Vexen turned, "Follow me, please," and he left the doorway with the bag, "I have much to tell you…"

xXx Meanwhile, in Xero's Room… xXx

Xero was just lying in her bed when she heard her door open; it was Naminé, "What do you want, blondie?"

Naminé somewhat stuttered, "U-um, well, y-you see…"

"Out with it!"

"AREYOUANDENNOXACOUPLE!?"

The shock from that question caused Xero to fall out of her bed. When she got to her feet, she glared at Naminé, "What the hell kind of question is that? What makes you think we're some kind of couple!?"

"I'm sorry," Naminé teared up a little, "I just, I don't know, you two seem to get along even though you don't know each other very well."

"Heh," Xero scoffed, "he's just a dense giraffe…"

"Giraffe?"

"Yeah, have you seen the guy's neck? It's just not normal…" Xero paused, "Besides, it's not as though we talk as friends or anything like that. I just vent my frustration on him and he takes it like the frickin' dense, happy-go-lucky guy he is." But, at that moment, Xero thought, _"And yet, there's something familiar about that goof… Dwe, it's probably the idiocy; it seems to be in a concentrated area around here…"_

xXx Sometime around noon, in the Portal Room… xXx

Everyone was there and waiting for Ennox to arrive; when Ennox arrived, Vexen appeared behind him and caused people some shock. Axel was the first to point it out, "Hey, Ennox, why's the stiff with you?"

Ennox looked at Vexen, "Oh, Doctor Vexen needed to talk to me about something; it's no big deal." He looked around and noticed everyone else was here, "So, what are we waiting for?"

"We were waiting for you and Xero to get here." Axel said, "And now, since you're both here, we can finally give you your rank and title. Xero," as Axel spoke, Xero walked over and stood next to Ennox, "we, the Organization, give you the rank of XV and the title of 'the Blazing Trickster'."

Xero glared at Axel, "Why the hell are you calling me 'the Blazing _Trickster_'? How am I a trickster?"

Axel just sighed, "I told Xemnas not to call you that, but he said that he didn't care and your title would be 'the Blazing Trickster'… So take it up with him." Xero walked away, mumbling death under her breath. Axel continued, "Ok, and Ennox-"

Ennox's spine stiffened, "Y-yeah?"

Axel laughed, "Chill, man; there's no reason to be so nervous!" Ennox sighed and loosened up, "We, the Organization, give you the rank of XVI and the title of 'the Phenomenon'."

Ennox looked at Axel in confusion, "I'm 'the Phenomenon'..? Why am I called 'the Phenomenon'?"

"Well, you see…" Axel put his right index finger up to his mouth, deep in thought, "I guess it's because we have no clue what you are, power-wise of course." Ennox lowered his eyes to the ground; he didn't like being 'unknown', he wanted to be defined in some way. Axel patted him on the shoulder, "Hey, don't mope, because you got a whole lot of power…" Ennox smiled; even if it was just honey Axel was feeding him, it still felt good, "And, because it's such an amazing power, you'll need some sort of activation phrase every time you use it!"

Ennox looked dumb-founded, "A-activation phrase? What do you mean by that?"

"You see," Axel smiled, "your power looked like some kinda' transformation! And the number one rule on a transformation is: If it's badass, then it deserves an activation phrase!" His gaze wandered until it hit the clock; then he panicked, "But let's save it for later; right now, we gotta' get going!"

Everybody panicked and ran through the portal, leaving Vexen there by himself; he was usually alone anyway, but Vexen couldn't help but feel bad that he couldn't go with them, he thought, _"Ah, the age of youth… How I miss those times…"_ Then, a sudden thought entered Vexen's mind, _"An activation phrase..?Hmm… Axel might be on to something there…"_ He turned and left the Portal Room and went back to his lab…

xXx At Twilight Town High School… xXx

The gang stood outside the building, staring at it in plain awe; sure, it wasn't as big as their HQ, but there was a certain air – an aura – that surrounded the school, which gave it this mysterious quality, as though it was hiding some precious secret. The school was in the shape of an incomplete square, or a squared 'C' if you like, and had two floors; at the top of the building, in the dead center of the structure, was a bell tower.

Ennox was the first to break the silence, "So… This is the school?"

Xero rolled her eyes, "No, it's just a building that happens to have a sign that says 'Twilight Town High School' on the wall." She pointed to the sign on the right, "And yes, that was sarcasm."

Axel moved between them, "Ok, ok, no fighting or arguing; we got to get inside quick. Everyone have their schedules and classes?" Everyone nodded, "Ok, let's go."

As they entered the building, they noticed that the majority of the students were starting to stare at them, then the students started chuckling and whisper to each other. Ennox got a little nervous and talked quietly to Axel, "Hey, Axel, why are they looking at us like that?" Axel shook his head; nobody in the group knew why the students were acting like this. Ennox overheard one of the students say something about their clothes; he looked at himself and everybody in the group, then looked at the other students. The little lightbulb in his head lit up, "That's it!" Ennox exclaimed, "It's our clothes! See, they're wearing black pants with a white shirt and tie, and we're wearing our Organization clothes!"

A woman with long brown hair in a red bow was walking through the commons, holding a stack of papers, when she saw the 'unique' group at the school doors. _"Those clothes,"_ she thought, _"they must be the transfer students I heard about!" _She walked awkwardly toward them; she didn't have much success when it came to students, so she hoped that they wouldn't be too much trouble. The group noticed this and started staring at her, which made the woman feel even more awkward than before; she began to worry, _"W-why are they staring at me like that..? Oh,"_ she tried looking down at her shoes without losing balance, _"do I have toilet paper stuck to my shoes again?"_

Axel moved to the front of the group, "Excuse me, miss?"

The lady jumped a little, almost dropping her stack of papers, and regained her balance, "Y-yes? Can I h-help you?"

Axel gave her a comforting grin, "We're new to this school and we were hoping you could help us find our classes."

The woman said, "Oh, of course. Well, I'm Ms. Gainsborough, Aerith Gainsbrough. And what are your names?" As each one told their names and classes, Aerith sent them to their classes, and as they left, they told the remaining ones 'good-bye' and 'see you later'.

Finally, the only person left was Ennox, "Um, I'm in class 3-A…"

"Really..?" Aerith said, "Lucky you, I'm the homeroom teacher for that class. Just follow me and I'll introduce you to the other students, okay?" Ennox nodded, and so they left for Class 3-A.

They passed a few students in the corridors – each one looking at Ennox like he was some kind of alien – when one student came into view; this guy had spiky short black hair that shot out in all different directions, his shirt wasn't tucked in and his tie was hanging loosely from his neck, and he had a single ring on his left index finger that had the kanji for 'lion' on it.

Aerith waved, "Ah, Leo, where are you going? Homeroom is about to start."

This 'Leo' didn't even look at Aerith, "I'm goin' to the bathroom; don't worry, I'll get back to class as fast as…" His eyes fell upon Ennox, "Who's this, Teach?"

"Well," Aerith smiled, "since you're not in the same class as him, I guess I can tell you; his name is Ennox and he's a new student in my class!"

Leo started walking past them, "Whatever…"

When Leo passed by, Ennox felt this cold sensation run through his entire body and start to fade; Ennox thought, _"What was that..? Could it have been..?" _he looked back to see Leo walk farther and farther away, and every step he took the sensation lessened, _"I don't know for sure… But something about that Leo just didn't feel right."_

xXx Following Leo… xXx

After passing by Ms. Gainsborough and that new kid, Leo suddenly got a strange feeling in his stomach, "Tch, that new kid…"

"What new kid?"

Leo suddenly stopped in his tracks; he didn't even sense her until now, but was he not paying attention or was she simply 'hiding' until now? He turned to see a girl with short black and red hair – wearing the same cloak as the new kid – standing in the entrance to another hallway, "I'm guessin' by your sense of fashion that you're with that 'Ennox' guy. Am I right?"

"Oh, you mean Giraffe…"

"Giraffe?"

"Nevermind," she stepped toward him, "anyway, I can already tell that you're not normal."

"So?" Leo turned away and started walking, "You and your 'friends' aren't normal either, right?"

"You got a point there… It's Xero."

"What?" He stopped and turned around, "What the hell's a 'cero'?"

"Xero! Xero! X-E-R-O, Xero! That's my name, dumbass."

"Oh," Leo shifted around, "the name's Leo. Remember the name… Because I'm gonna' be the one to destroy you guys." And with that, he left.

xXx Back to Ennox… xXx

Aerith wrote Ennox's name on the board – and, apparently, his last name is 'Shiniusagi' – and put the chalk back onto the shelf, "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to your new classmate, Ennox Shiniusagi." And suddenly, the room started rumbling with chuckling and snickering; it must've been the name… Or maybe it was the way he was dressed. Aerith got nervous; she thought she was losing control of the class, "N-now, settle down, people… Please settle down… Would you, would you please…"

The noise continued until the door was slid open and a man with spiky blonde hair walked into the room; everyone suddenly became deathly silent. The man straightened up his tie and spoke, "I want you to give your full attention to Ms. Gainsborough and your new classmate. Otherwise," he turned around, his back to the students, "you'll all get demerits. Am I clear?"

The students spoke in unison, "Yes, sir, Mr. Strife, sir!"

Aerith suddenly blushed, "T-thank you, Mr. Strife!"

Mr. Strife turned to the door, "Please try harder to control your class, Ms. Gainsborough. That is all." And with that, he left the classroom.

After a second introduction, it was time for Ennox to find his seat; luckily, he got a window seat near the back. As he walked through the aisle, he couldn't help but notice that everyone was watching him intently, like he was some strange invader or the like. As he turned to sit in his seat, he saw a blur of heads turn quickly back to the front of the class. At the same time, however, he felt a presence still looking at him, it felt cold and… _evil_.

"Hey."

Ennox whipped his head around to see this blonde girl with a big grin on her face; was this girl the one giving him that weird feeling? In any case, he didn't want to be rude, "Uh, hi… I'm Ennox… Ennox Shiniusagi." When he said his name, she chuckled, "Huh? Did I say something funny?"

She grabbed his hand and shook it, "My name is Koihime Vermillion, and your last name is hilarious. Did you change it or is that your real name?" Ennox gave this Koihime girl a strange look, "Omigosh, you really don't know what your name means?" Ennox shook his head, "Haha, shini means 'death', and usagi means 'rabbit'. Put it together, and what do you get?"

"D-Death Rabbit?" When Ennox realized his last name's meaning, he suddenly imagined a cute little bunny rabbit holding the Grim Reaper's scythe; what a strange combination…

"Bingo! I can already tell, Grim Bunny, we're gonna' be best buddies!"

"Uh, yeah, sure..." Suddenly, he felt that cold presence again; it wasn't a coincidence, there _was_ somebody watching him. He subtly looked around the room, but nobody was looking at him, _"Am I imagining things?"_ As he turned back, he noticed Koihime looking at him again, "W-what?" She leaned closer to his face, "Is there something on my face?"

"Your eyes…"

"Huh?"

"They're two different colors..? The left one's purple, and the other's glowing gold, like _really_ glowing gold." His eyes were differently colored?

"_Why,"_ Ennox thought, _"didn't the guys tell me that?" _It wasn't like it was such a big deal; it was just, something like that is a detail you really need to know as soon as possible. _"Wait,"_ he wondered, _"she said my right eye was __**glowing**__… Could it have something to do with this cold sensation I'm getting? Meh, no point in worrying right now; nothing I can do about it at the moment."_

xXx In Actuality… xXx

Lounging in a tree, Leo sat looking into Class 3-A and noticed the new kid sitting and looking around, "Well, he's able to sense presences, but he has no idea what he's getting himself into," he leapt from the tree and landed gracefully on the ground, "isn't that right, Taurus?"

A giant guy walks out – the ground practically shaking with each step – and in his hand is a large bag of chips, "Not a clue, Leo… That fool," he looks around to all the other classrooms where the Nobodies were, "and his friends, will be crushed by the Remnants."

**To Be Continued…**

Jinx's Corner

Allright! New chapter is out, and I know that the little excerpt that was in the preview isn't in here, and I can explain. I don't want to give away all the details, but I can assure you that the Remnants of the Zodiac are a force to be reckoned with. And, with this chapter, we begin the Remnant Appearance Arc… And don't worry; unlike those anime companies that feel the need to release fillers every couple episodes *cough* BLEACH *cough*, I don't plan on releasing filler arcs. Maybe a funny/omake chapter here and there, but they're basically one-shots in themselves.

And now (I've always wanted to do this XD), for the Preview of the Next Chapter!

**And so, our heroes begin their school year, but what is the true identity of Leo and Taurus? What – or 'Who' – are the Remnants? All these answers, and more, in the next chapter of "A Tale of Two Nobodies", Chapter 5: The First Ignition of the Soul! You won't want to miss it!**

Thanks for reading guys, and be sure to leave reviews! I want to make this thing as good as it can be! XD

--- Johnny Jinx


	7. Chapter V: The First Soul Ignition

--- Chapter V: The First Ignition of the Soul ---

It's been a week since Ennox and Xero – along with other members of the Organization – started their school life at Twilight Town High School, and Ennox has already made enemies with some powerful beings who call themselves the 'Remnants', though that remains unknown to Ennox himself. He's been a little preoccupied with his desk neighbor, Koihime Vermilion, who has an endless abundance of energy and pep. Xero has been spending her school days hanging out on the rooftops, and her skipping has brought her a couple of lectures from Xemnas; not that she cares, since she's still mad about her Organization title of 'Blazing Trickster'.

Meanwhile, the other Organization members have made their niches among the numerous cliques. Axel has quickly become one of the Top Ten Hotties of the school and is a starter in baseball; Larxene is infamous for her brutality – with both students and teachers – and newly acquired title of Number One Street Fighter; Zexion is head of the Drama and Poetry Clubs; Roxas was just your typical teenage boy who naturally attracted girls; and Naminé is a favorite in the Arts & Humanities group. Then, one day…

"Who _is_ that guy?" One girl said.

"I don't know," said another, her fingers twisting her hair, "did he transfer here with them?"

Ennox, who was passing by at the time, couldn't help but overhear their conversation, "Can I help you with something?"

"Huh?" One of the girls turned and showed Ennox the picture, "Oh, yeah, um, can you tell me who this guy is?" When Ennox focused on who the girl was pointing at in the picture, he realized that it was a picture of _him_, "We've seen him hanging out with the cool transfer students, but we don't know who he is. Do you have an idea?"

Ennox swallowed his pride, "N-no, not a clue, sorry."

"Oh, thanks anyway." And the girls went back to their investigation.

Ennox sighed as he walked back to his seat in the cafeteria, then a familiar voice sounded, "Hey, Grim Bunny, what's wrong?"

It was Koihime from his homeroom class, "Oh, Koihime, nothing's wrong…" He took a deep breath, "Except for the fact that I'm a nobody around here." Oh, the situational irony. Everyone in the Organization had some skill or talent that made them instantly likeable, everyone except Ennox.

Ennox felt a tap on his shoulder, "Hey, you know what you need?"

Ennox turned to see Axel, "Axel!? When did you get here? How much did you hear?"

"Yeah, it's me, Axel, the Crimson God!" Axel posed like he was a supermodel, "I've been here for a while, and I heard enough." He started pacing around the seat, "You need to make a name for yourself, you need to break out of your shell, you need to… To…" His eyes suddenly brightened and he rushed over to Ennox, "You, my Nobody friend, need to have a good ol' fashioned fist fight!"

"A fist fight!? You're kidding me! I don't want to be known as a delinquent or something else like that!" Ennox's nature was very passive, he didn't want to fight unless it was a last resort, so it was basically impossible for him to get into a fist fight – or a fight of any kind for that matter – so fighting was out. "What if," Ennox started, "no, never mind…"

So, for the remainder of the day, Ennox sulked to the point where he actually skipped one of his classes. He reached the rooftops and just sprawled onto the warm concrete, closing his eyes and just drifting off. Well, he _was_ drifting off, until, "OW!" Something hard struck him right in the dead center of his spine, "What the hell?"

"Why are you up here?"

Ennox got up and brushed himself off, "So, Xero, this is where you sneak off to every period?"

She walked past him and picked up her book – AKA: the hard thing that broke his back. She leaned up against the fence that encircled the roof, "Yeah, so? Are you gonna' give me some lecture about how skipping school is bad and stuff?" Ennox nodded, and Xero muttered, "You really are a stupid giraffe."

"What?"

"Nothing. So, why are you up here? You gonna' start skipping with me?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm just…" Ennox tried thinking of the best word to use in this situation, "screwed over." Xero stared blankly at him; apparently, that _wasn't_ the right thing to say.

"Whatever," Xero said as she left her place in the fence, "I'm gonna' go find somewhere else to slack off. Cya later, Giraffe." As she walked away, she realized that the book she was carrying wasn't even hers, "Oh well," and with that, she tossed the book over the fence.

Ennox saw this, "Why did you-"

"It's not my book, so it's not my problem. Cya." And Xero left the roof.

Ennox sighed, "Well, she may be a bit… _rough_ around the edges. But it's like she said, 'It's not my book, so it's not my problem'." Oh, if he only knew…

xXx Meanwhile, on the School Grounds… xXx

A member of the Remnants named Stone Bison was just goofing off, as usual. Bison is usually a very laidback person, but he overreacts sometimes; he gets hot-headed real easily, especially when people challenge his sheer strength. He feels something hit his head, "What?" He looks down to see a book, then he looks up; the only direction it could've came from was from the roof, "So, someone thinks it's funny to taunt 'The Bison'. Well," he snorted, "he's gonna' learn that when you mess with the bull, you get the horns!" And so he raced off to the stairwell without a second thought – or first, for that matter – with the intent of punishing the punk who hit him.

xXx Back on the roof with Ennox… xXx

"Ah," Ennox exclaimed as he rested on the roof, his lids heavy, "I guess it's okay if I play hooky for just one day. I mean, what could go wrong?" When he closed his eyes, he could feel the sun's rays warming him, but then the light disappeared, "Strange, those clouds weren't there a minute ago…"

"I'm not a cloud…"

"Eh?" Ennox opened his eyes to see some heavily built guy staring intently at him, "AH!" He sprung to his feet but lost his balance and fell backwards onto his butt. _"W-why is this guy so angry?" _Ennox thought,_ "Wait, did the teachers send him because they knew I was skipping?"_

"Are you the one?" the giant guy said, "'Cause if you are, then you're in a whole lot of trouble!"

They _did _know, Ennox thought, and they sent this guy to punish me! Ennox got onto his hands and knees, "I-I'm sorry! I was just stressed out and I needed a way to relieve it!"

"So," the guy cracked his knuckles; they sounded like thunder, "You like to throw things at random people because you need to relieve your stress?"

"Eh?" Ennox was confused, "Th-throw things? But, I didn't…" Wait, Ennox thought, Xero threw a book when she left! Ennox rose up and said, "There's been a misunderstanding. It wasn't me who threw the book, it was…"

"I," the giant interrupted, "never said it was a book that hit me." Ennox froze, he just incriminated himself! "But that's okay…" Ennox sighed; maybe he understood that it was all just a freak accident? "Because I like to beat up smartass punks when I'm feeling down, and what do you know? There's a smartass punk in front me!" Ennox looked around – nobody else was up here – and he pointed at himself, "Yes, you!"

Ennox panicked, "B-b-but, you got it all wrong! I didn't do it! It was Xe..." If he told this guy that Xero was the one who tossed the book, then that would put her in danger! He swallowed hard; he was going to take one for the team, "It… It was me, but I sincerely apologize for it. I shouldn't have done it!"

"Oh please!" the giant growled, "You aren't sorry! But you _will_ be," he pulled back his fist, "after I, the infamous Stone Bison, stomps your ass into the ground!" Ennox screamed and dodged the punch at the last minute, followed by a loud crash and a storm of dust. "You're pretty light on your feet, aren't you? But, now that I think about it…" the dust cleared to reveal Biosn's fist in a large crater; you gotta' be kidding me, Ennox thought, he did that with a single punch? Bison pulled his fist away and brushed the dust off his clothes, "You're a Nobody, aren't you?"

"Huh? How do you know about Nobodies?"

"Who knew," the behemoth turned to face Ennox, "Who knew that we were so similar? Maybe I can go all out!?" Bison breathed heavily as the tension rose, "It's been a while since I had a _real_ fight. You better keep me entertained!"

Ennox could feel this guy's power grow every second, "What's going on? What are you?"

Bison laughed, "Heartless are creatures born from the darkness in people's hearts, and Nobodies, like you, are the left-behind husks of strong hearts." He looked Ennox straight in the eyes, his eyes were full of fury, "_We_ obey our primal instinct to seek out pure hearts, but we maintain control over our hunger; we are whole, yet incomplete; we are born from a strong heart's will to remain in this world; a lingering desire to exist." He lifted one hand, "Half light," he raised the other hand, "and half dark; we are _Remnants_."

"Remnants…" The word had a bitter taste in Ennox's mouth, but that was the least of his worries!

"Not that it matters! This is gonna' be a fight to the finish!" Bison pointed at Ennox, "So, come on already! Let's fight!"

"B-but, I don't want to fight you!" Ennox pleaded; while it was true that he didn't want to fight Bison, the real reason for not fighting was that he couldn't call on his powers yet.

"Oh, that's too bad, because I'm dyin' to fight!" Bison yelled as he pulled his fists back, "So you better focus, or else you'll really die, all right?"

"I got a better idea, Stone Bison," a mysterious girl's voice said, "if I may?"

"You better not intrude, Aquarius! This punk's gonna' get what's comin' to him!" Bison yelled.

A pair of hands made out of water came from out of nowhere and grabbed Bison's arms, restraining him; Ennox didn't know what was going on, but to force a guy like Bison into submission so easily – sneak attack or not – is something to be amazed at. A puddle of water formed to the right of Bison and, out of the puddle, a girl with long blue hair appeared wearing a… school swimsuit!? It looked as though the swimsuit was a size to small, as it clung to her well-developed body.

Ennox pointed while holding the other hand over his nose, "Why are you wearing that in public!?"

The girl with blue hair said, "Because," she shook the water from her hair, "I didn't want to get my school uniform wet, duh."

"That's not the point!" Ennox yelled, "The point is that you're wearing something that _tight_ in public!"

The girl looked down at her swimsuit, and then yelled, "THIS ISN'T MINE!"

Ennox yelled louder, "You _just_ realized that!?"

Bison yelled, "Oh, shut up, both you; Aquarius, would you hurry up and let me go already!?"

Aquarius stood on her tippy-toes and yanked hard on Bison's right ear, "Listen you…"

While the two were arguing with each other, Ennox noticed a glare coming from Aquarius's yanking right hand; it was small and near the index finger. When Ennox found an angle free from the reflective torture, he saw what it was: a ring that had the kanji for maiden engraved upon it, just like Leo's! If this 'Aquarius' girl has a ring like Leo's, Ennox thought, then that would mean Leo is a Remnant, too!

"Hey, Nobody." Aquarius said.

"Uh, yeah?" Ennox responded.

"Friday."

"Eh?"

"On Friday, you and Bison are going to fight. So be prepared," she paused, "or you will_ die_."

"B-but wait! I don't want to…" By that time, Aquarius had melted – along with Bison – and disappeared, "I don't want to die!" He yelled up to the sky, "Give me a break!"

xXx After school, back at HQ…. xXx

"See," said Axel as he patted Ennox in the back, "I told you all you needed was to get into a brawl!"

After leaving school and returning to the base, Ennox told the others about his run-in with Bison and another Remnant named 'Aquarius'. Ennox sulked over to a nearby chair and slumped into it, "Oh man, what am I gonna' do? I got less than a week before I have to fight Bison and, as strong as he is, I won't last a minute against this guy!"

"You could kick his ass…" said Axel.

"Or you could leave the country… Now…" said Larxene.

"Maybe write him a poem?" said Zexion; everyone just stared at him, "What? He'll be so confused and uncomfortable you would have time to escape…"

"Or give a sincere apology?" said Naminé.

"It's no use!" Ennox exclaimed, "I'm done for! I'm truly and honestly – without a doubt – doomed!" What could Ennox do? Without being able to tap into his power consciously, the chances of him surviving – let alone, winning – against Bison seemed as low as Xero's GPA.

"Oh, what a shame," everyone turned to see Vexen walk into the room, "and here I thought that you could test something for me." He strolled over to Ennox, "It seems that I am in the need of a test subject and you need a way to defeat this 'Bison' fellow. Maybe we could help each other out?"

"What's this thing you need testing, Vexen?" Axel asked.

"Oh, Axel," Vexen replied, holding his hand to his heart – or at least where his heart would be, "are you implying that I am simply _using_ Ennox?" He dropped his hand and turned to the side, "Well, I mean, I'm _technically_ using Ennox, but he's the only one who can effectively use this little gadget I made. And he needs a way to fight some guy off, right? I'm simply providing support to a fellow Nobody and, in exchange, he provides me with important data in the study of the heart and Nobodies."

"I don't know, maybe somebody else should test it…" Axel contemplated.

"I'll do it." Ennox answered firmly; everybody looked back to him worryingly, "If it'll help me win against Bison, then I'll test it for you."

"Excellent!" Vexen exclaimed, clapping and rubbing his hands together, "We should start as soon as possible, that'll give me time to do some fine tuning and upgrading."

Ennox nodded; this gadget thing, Ennox thought, might be the only way to survive against Bison. But, what did this 'gadget' of Vexen's do exactly?

xXx Meanwhile, with the Remnants of the Zodiac… xXx

"Aquarius," one Remnant said, "would you mind explaining what happened on the rooftops today? A 'fight' being scheduled?" The Remnant sat proudly in a chair, his hands clasped together in front of his face of jet black hair; a ring with the kanji for balance (as in the scale) gleamed on his left index finger.

"Oh, you mean that fiasco with Bison?" Aquarius replied, "He just picked a fight with this nobody transfer student, Ennox Shiniusagi, and I stopped it before it got out of hand." She sighed and waved her hand back and forth, "I mean, really; he was about to 'rebirth' just to fight one guy who doesn't have a spine. But don't you worry about a thing, Libra, I convinced him to wait till Friday to destroy the wimp. Then again, he was kinda' cute with the way he was panicking and how scared he was, just like a helpless bunny rabbit.

"Don't count him out, Aquarius," a voice said, "he's a Nobody. He _seems_ weak, but I can sense it; there's something buried deep down, something _big_."

"Oh, Leo," Aquarius groaned, "if there _was _something that big deep down, then why didn't he simply use it to destroy Bison right there?"

"Hm…"

"The absence of power does not prove the presence of weakness," another Remnant said as he stepped out of the shadows, pushing his glasses up and holding a book to his side; a ring with the kanji for fish was on his left pinky, "and vice versa. Simply assuming that he is weak based on the fact he didn't fight back is simply idiotic."

"Ah, Pisces," Libra said, "You have returned. Did everything go as planned?"

"Libra," Pisces said in an annoyed tone, "you know that when it comes to plans and calculations, I'm _never_ wrong. You should know this by now."

"Might cocky, aren't we, Salmon?" A guy walked out with his red hair spiked up and out in all different directions, and a ring with the kanji for ram on his right thumb, "Of course, you know what they say? 'All good things must come to an end, except fighting.'"

"Scorpio must say," said another girl with a scorpion-kanji ring on her right ring finger, "Aries, you are quite savage, you know that?"

"There's nothing wrong with enjoying a fight! If my opponent is strong and I have to go all out in order to fight, then it's worth it – live or die." Aries said proudly, "Of course, people like you wouldn't understand the warrior's heart."

One voice said, "You sound like…" And another voice said, "Such an idiot, Aries."

"Eh!?" He turned to see two little kids – one boy and one girl – and said, "And you guys sound weird when you alternate your talking, Gemini."

"At least you guys have cool names, unlike me…" Said a depressed voice.

"What do you…" said Gem. "Mean by that, Virgo?" said Ai.

"I _mean_…" Virgo said, her straight black hair covering most of her face, "I'm Virgo the _Virgin_! Nobody wants to be called a virgin, more or less it be their title!"

Taurus laughed and choked on a potato chip, "Well, it's not like we can call you Virgo the _Abstinate Remnant_. I know it sucks, but it can't be helped."

"Whatever…" Virgo wimpered.

Libra cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention onto him, "Enough with this banter; it's a lot noisier when Capricorn, Sagittarius and Cancer aren't here." He opened his yellow eyes, "Speaking of which, where are they?"

Pisces opened his book, "Last I saw, Capricorn was busy with something for a class, Sagittarius is busy with the Archery club, and Cancer is… To be honest, I have no idea where she could be." He closed it and rubbed his eyes, "It's amazing how little they care about our operation."

Libra chuckled to himself, "It matters not. When the time comes, it won't matter. But for the moment, I want Aquarius to keep Bison in line until Friday, and I want…" His gaze wandered till he found the perfect person, "Leo to monitor this 'Death Bunny'. Are we clear?"

Aquarius and Leo said in unison, "Yes, Libra."

xXx On Friday… xXx

Ennox woke up early in the morning to get in some last minute exercise, "Today is the day." He stretched his legs, his arms, ears, everything he could stretch and flex, he stretched and flexed. After that, he went over to his little desk in the corner of the room and opened the drawer. As he rummaged through these random items, he finally found what he was looking for: a black box, "It's showtime!"

When everyone got to school, the others wished Ennox good luck, and when he disappeared from view, they bet on how long he would last. When Ennox reached the roof, there stood Bison with Aquarius close by; the look in Bison's eyes was as crazy as the last time he saw them. Ennox's legs began to shiver and he could feel sweat start to form.

Bison had his arms crossed against his chest, "Well, look who showed up? I was starting to think I would have to hunt you down, Rabbit." He unfolded his arms and punched the air around him, "Now we can have some _real_ fun, right?"

"W-wait!" Ennox yelled, "I'd like to ask you something."

"No questions! Just fight!" Bison yelled back.

Aquarius jumped up and yanked Bison's ear down hard, "_You_ don't get to decide that, I do. What do you want to know, Bunny?"

"What are Remnants? What are you planning?" Ennox asked.

"Well, I can't tell you what we're planning, but…" Aquarius paused for moment, "How about this? If you win against Bison, I'll tell you a lil' bit about us Remnants."

"And if you win?" Ennox asked cautiously.

"And… If _we_ win, you have to go out on a date with me!" Aquarius answered happily.

Ennox and Bison replied in unison, "Eh!? A date!?"

Bison escaped from Aquarius's grip, "I won't be some pawn for you to get a guy; besides, if I win, I'll probably kill him."

Ennox gulped, he hoped that _it_ would work fine this time, "Agreed. If I win, you spill the beans on the Remnants; if you win, I'll go on a date with you."

"Hooray!" Aquarius screamed, "Ok, you guys can go at it now. And," she poked Bison in the nose, "if I see that he's on the verge of dying, I _will_ intervene. You got me?" Bison nodded hesitantly, "Ok, good! Be back in a little while!" And she melted away, leaving Ennox and Bison alone on the roof.

"It's about time." Bison complained; he stretched his arms and shoulders, and every movement made a crack of some sort, "You better make it entertaining for me, Bunny!"

Ennox slung his bag around to the front and unzipped a little pocket area. He searched for a while and pulled out the black case from his room. He opened the box, "Don't worry, I'll make it exciting. And I'll do it with this!" He pulls out what looks like a belt buckle – shiny and metallic, with a clear glass middle – and held it triumphantly in front of him. It was time to see if this thing was effective in a _real_ challenge.

Bison was caught off guard, "And what do you plan on doing with a belt buckle? Hold my pants up?" He laughed; it was the most absurd thing he ever heard – death by belt buckle.

"I'll show you! Ready!" As Ennox yelled that, the belt buckle sprouted a belt, "Set!" He slung the belt around his body and the buckle secured it to his waist, "Go!" He pulls out an item in the shape of a sword out of his shirt pocket and swings it parallel to the glass area of his buckle, "Henshin Drive! Sword Ennox!" Then, a massive amount of light shined from Ennox, blinding Bison for a brief moment; he definitely did _not_ see that coming. When the light faded away, Ennox was in the same outfit the first time he transformed against Larxene, but this time, he had complete control over the swelling power.

Bison looked Ennox over once he could see again and laughed, "That's it? That's the best you got?" He crossed his arms again and looked down at the ground, "I gotta' say, I'm a bit disappointed in you, Bunny. When you made such a strong look, I thought you were gonna' show me something amazing." He lifts his head, "Well, this won't take long…" Ennox wasn't in front of him anymore, "What the-!?"

"You know," Bison froze; the voice was so close to him, "you shouldn't judge someone by appearances. You dropped your guard for a moment just to criticize me, and now, here I am, standing behind you; you didn't even realize I moved, did you?" Ennox stood calmly behind Bison, his sword inches from Bison's neck, "Give up now, and we can both walk away from this without harm."

Bison just sighed, "Oh come on, if it was that easy to defeat me, you really think I'd be a Remnant?" Ennox noticed Bison disappear from his blade, Ennox turned to see Bison stand tall and strong, "We've just begun, so you shouldn't act so confidently!" He growled and held up his arms, which then turned to stone! "I'm not called 'Stone Bison' for nothin', ya'know? I have the ability to turn certain parts of my body into stone, makin' me nearly impervious to any attack!"

Ennox gritted his teeth, "Damn," he muttered under his breath, "I probably lost my one chance to end this fight! Now I gotta' fight smart and, hopefully," he was interrupted as Bison charged and slammed the ground, knocking Ennox into the air, "hopefully, I won't get hit!" He regained his balance as he landed on the ground, but that didn't last long as Bison charged him again; there wasn't enough time for Ennox to move out of the way! He tried blocking it with the buckler on his right arm, but he couldn't stop Bison's momentum, and Ennox was knocked back about ten feet, his head hitting the fence.

Bison scraped his foot against the ground, "Give up, or the next one _will_ kill you!"

Ennox got up and shifted his weight to his left leg – his right one was pretty banged up from that last hit – and he leaned against the fence. He fell off balance when the fence began to fall backwards; it must've happened when he knocked me into the fence, Ennox thought, and _that_ gives me an idea. Ennox pulled his left arm up and pointed at Bison, then gave him a thumbs-down.

Bison snorted, "You taunting me? I'm kickin' your ass, and _you're_ taunting _me_?" He angrily stomped and snorted, "Oh, now you're done for, Bunny!" He charged at Ennox, picking up a crazy amount of speed.

At the last moment, Ennox rolled out of the way, "Gotch'ya!" Bison couldn't stop and skidded into the fence, which bent with his momentum and – along with Bison – fell off the roof. Ennox thought for a moment that he was safe, until one of the loose pieces of the wire fence caught Ennox's jacket and yanked him off the roof as well! Luckily though, a tree caught his fall and he didn't break anything – as far as he knew. He picked himself up off the ground and looked to his right to see Bison in a crater, staring straight up into the sky, "Oh crap! I killed him!"

Bison's eyes turned to Ennox, "I ain't dead! I was just thinking of how bad I'm gonna' kick your ass, now that you've taunted and humiliated me!" Ennox sighed and thanked God for not killing Bison, "Now we can continue, but seeing as how you're so eager to die, I'll show you my _true_ power!"

"Eh!?" Ennox panicked, "What do you mean 'true power'? You mean that you weren't fighting for real before?"

Bison smirked, "That's why I said you shouldn't be so confident; we only just started, Bunny! Much like that little 'Henshin Drive' you got goin' on, us Remnants also have something like that; we call it 'Rebirth'." Bison focused intently on building up his energy, "You see, when we use 'Rebirth', we return to our original selves, to before we acquired a human form." Suddenly, Bison's power output stopped, "Rebirth!" A giant mass of shadows engulfed Bison, much in the same manner as the light covered Ennox during his transformation; though Ennox could feel an intense aura coming from inside the shadows. When the shadows began to dissipate, Ennox could make out a large figure on all fours. When there was enough light to see, Ennox saw a giant white beast with black horns and hooves, with red energy flowing out his nostrils and mouth; the beast had a shell on his back and the nose had a ring through it, plus the hooves were aflame.

"What the hell?" Ennox said in shock.

A distorted – yet familiar – voice came from the beast's mouth, "Oh please, don't be so shocked, Bunny!" Ennox saw what could only be described as a grin appeared on the monster's face, "This is my Rebirth! You should see your face!"

"Bison!?" Ennox yelled, "Is that really you?"

"Hahaha," Bison growled, "now it's a real fight! So, show me what you got!"

Ennox grunted – his leg was still hurt pretty badly – but there was one move he could use, though he had no idea how powerful it would be. He had no other choice, "Ok, take this! **BRAVE**..." He held the sword high above his head; the blade began to glow a bright red, "**EDGE!!!**" Ennox swung the crimson sword down, and a wave of energy flew toward Bison. The explosion sent Ennox flying into the tree, knocking the wind out of him, "That finished it, phew."

A distorted laugh filled the air and Ennox froze; when the dust settled, there stood Bison, only pushed back a few inches, "I gotta' admit, that was pretty powerful, but really? That's it? My turn!" He scraped his front right hoof against the ground, "**GRAND**…" Bison propelled himself into a sprint toward Ennox, his red energy forming a protective shell around his face, "**CHARGE!!!**"

Ennox only had enough time to raise his miniscule buckler against the attack – how pointless it was – and Bison's attack shattered the wooden guard into a thousand pieces. Thankfully, this gave Ennox the chance to move out of the path of the attack and counter. However, when Ennox struck Bison on his back, his blade simply bounced off and knocked Ennox onto his butt, "Ow, that isn't good. His body is hard as…" He realized, "Right, right… _Stone_ Bison. Should've figured. If I only had something that could break through it…" Almost reacting to his wishes, the broken pieces of his buckler began to glow and reform, "Ok, now what's going on?"

The glowing pieces fused together to form a key with a spiral design to it; what was the purpose of this key? Ennox grabbed the key and held it up, and he felt a warm sensation come from his sword. When he looked down at the sword in his left hand, he saw a glow come from the bottom of the hilt: a keyhole! Ennox flipped the sword so that the blade away from his front and held it horizontally parallel to his chest, then he instinctively held the key up to meet the keyhole, "Whoa, this is weird, but," he stuck the key inside; a perfect fit, "It's been weird this whole time. Now, let's fire it up! **FIRST SOUL**…" He twisted the key, "**IGNITION!!!**"

Ennox's sword and the guards on his left arm suddenly broke away and reformed as a giant drill! His leather vest grew into a duster coat and, from the collar, extended a frayed cloak with a flaming skull design. A grin grew over Ennox's face as a pair of bright orange sunglasses in the shape of a distorted star formed over his eyes, "Hey, who the hell do you think I am!?"

Bison had, by this time, turned from his attack and faced Ennox's new transformation, "You're a Nobody!" Bison charged at him again, "**GRAND CHARGE!!!**" The red aura began to form around Bison's body.

Ennox spun around, roundhouse-kicking Bison in the face like a scene from Walker Texas Ranger, sending the behemoth flying into the building – much to the horror of the teacher and her students – and Ennox placed his foot on top of some rubble and pointed his drill at Bison, "No, you dumbass," Ennox raised his drill toward the sky, "For my drill is the drill that will pierce the heavens, themselves! I am… **DRILL ENNOX!!!**"

Bison rose from out of the rubble and roared loudly at the sky, "You think I'm gonna' lose to someone like _you_?" He charged Ennox again, but Ennox easily side-stepped Bison, bringing him out into the open.

The drill began to spin like mad in Ennox's hand, "Now, feel the power of the Spiral Race! **FINAL ATTACK!!!**" He lowered the drill and pointed it at Bison, "**MAXIMUM**..." The drill began to glow, "**SPIRAL**…" He leapt and let the drill find it's mark: right in the middle of Bison's back, "**ENDER!!!**" A stunning explosion and Bison was knocked out cold on the ground; as for Ennox… Well, "AH! NOT AGAIN!" Vexen could not fix the problem of Ennox's clothes being destroyed after each Henshin Drive.

xXx After that… xXx

"Wow," Naminé said, "So, you really beat Bison?"

"Yeah, you guys should've seen me!" Ennox huffed, "Oh man, I was so awesome out there! Although," he crossed his arms across his chest, "When I used that key, it felt like another presence was filling my body; like, somebody was manipulating my actions."

"Everybody pay up!" Axel yelled.

Everybody groaned and gave Axel whole wads of cash; Ennox was confused, "Wait, what's going on?"

"Oh, th-this?" Axel stammered, "Well, y-you see…"

Zexion passed them by – with a book in front of his face, as usual – and simply said, "They bet on how long you would last against Bison."

Ennox looked innocently at Axel, "You _betted_ on me?" He looked around at everyone, "_All _of you did?" Everyone looked away, ashamed; but Ennox grinned, "Well, in that case…" He dexterously grabbed the cash out of Axel's hands, "The money is mine! HAHAHA!" Everybody chased Ennox back to HQ, where they celebrated Ennox's survival on his first fight at school.


End file.
